CBS Eyes David E. Kelley Workplace Comedy Starring Robin Williams

Thirty years after the end of Mork & Mindy, Oscar and Emmy winner Robin Williams is plotting a return to series television with a comedy written by Emmy winner David E. Kelley. The untitled single-camera comedy, written by The Practice and Ally McBeal creator, is set in the world of advertising and would star Williams as a brilliant ad executive working alongside his daughter.

As he often does, Kelley wrote the script before taking the project out, and CBS is now in talks to pick it up. 20th Century Fox TV, where Kelley was based for 22 years before moving to Warner Bros. TV in 2008, is producing. Kelley’s frequent collaborator Bill D’Elia will serve as an executive producer with him.

A deal with CBS would bring Kelley back to the network where he created his first show to score a best series Emmy win, drama Picket Fences. It was followed by wins for The Practice and Ally McBeal, which made him the only creator to score a best comedy and drama series Emmys in the same year. The ad agency project also would bring Kelley back to the half-hour genre where he co-created his first series, Doogie Howser, MD. Kelley most recently created legal dramedy Harry’s Law, which ran on NBC for two seasons, and medical drama Monday Mornings, which premieres on TNT next year.

Recent Comments

ANYTHING Robin Williams is in will succeed! The man is genius and who care what he has...

denzil meyers

3 years

I'd think that Williams' character would not be written/played as "family friendly", but more of an ambitious...

Joseph

3 years

David E. Kelley has created and produced several hit series, so there's a decent chance this one...

Williams, Oscar winner for Good Will Hunting, recently wrapped filming on Lee Daniels’ The Butler, in which he is appearing as President Dwight D. Eisenhower, and is about to begin production as the title character in Phil Alden Robinson’s The Angriest Man in Brooklyn. Kelley and Williams are with WME, Kelley is with attorney Michael Gendler.

27 Comments

AC • on Aug 30, 2012 4:30 pm

Okay, Robin Wiliams a huge get and an x-factor, but please, no more David E Kelley television. I’m going to lose my mind! Shouldn’t Wonder Woman have earned him an NCAA Death Penalty for his programs? But on the subject of Robin. CBS? Not HBO? Or FX? Come on man, CBS is going to ate you nuts.

Jer • on Aug 30, 2012 4:30 pm

A bad pilot = death penalty.

Wow.

Daniel S • on Aug 30, 2012 4:30 pm

See if Kathy Bates from Harry’s Law is available to co-star

Payday • on Aug 30, 2012 4:30 pm

Wow. Wow. Film is dead. I sure hope Robin is getting a big payday, cause his pocketbook must be hurting if he’s doing this schlock. WTF representation… you’re seriously letting him do a 1/2 hr forgettable TV sitcom??? And ad exec??? Really?

Zachary • on Aug 30, 2012 4:30 pm

What makes you so sure it’s going to be forgettable? I’d rather watch a half hour comedy than any other kind of show any day. I am so watching this.

Anonymous • on Aug 30, 2012 4:30 pm

Film is dead, as far as drama or intellegent comedy goes. TV is where that thrives now. And it’s not like Williams has made a decent film in, what, a decade?

I see this as a step up.

Anonymous • on Aug 30, 2012 4:30 pm

Wow. I’ll watch.

mj • on Aug 30, 2012 4:30 pm

This is already dated and has not even been written yet.

Wil • on Aug 30, 2012 4:30 pm

Savvy comment. Look up. It says the script was already written.

Mitch • on Aug 30, 2012 4:30 pm

Did you miss the part about Kelley having already written it? Really demonstrating your reading and comprehension skills there.

Jay • on Aug 30, 2012 4:30 pm

I’ve been expecting Robin to jump back to television for a while (especially after folks like Dustin Hoffman, Glenn Close, Kathy Bates and other struggling A listers have done so..) but really hoped it would be an HBO comedy or an FX/AMC drama. A CBS comedy? What a waste.

jer • on Aug 30, 2012 4:30 pm

An extra zero or two on your paycheck goes a long way.

Temis • on Aug 30, 2012 4:30 pm

Exactly, why is Williams letting himself be skackled by broadcast, and CBS at thst?

SchtickMan • on Aug 30, 2012 4:30 pm

All the script needs is a black guy named Bubba and an effete fashion designer.

Matt • on Aug 30, 2012 4:30 pm

Is Jonathan Winters going to play his son?

lethargic • on Aug 30, 2012 4:30 pm

I don’t get the outcry over Robin Williams choosing CBS over HBO. Why are we acting like Robin Williams is such foul mouth cringe comic? The guy from Happy Feet, Night at the Museum, RV, Old Dogs, Bicentennial Man, Patch Adams, Flubber, Jumanji and Mrs Doubtfire is too exxxxxtreeeemmme for CBS? What are you guys talking about? Robin Williams is one of the softest, wishy washy, family friendly, PG comic around. He’s perfect for network comedy.

denzil meyers • on Aug 30, 2012 4:30 pm

I’d think that Williams’ character would not be written/played as “family friendly”, but more of an ambitious and self-centered jerk – like a mashup of Denny Crane and Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz.

Sure, Mork was funny, but he also made me uncomfortable. Perhaps it was the image of a big hairy man wearing kid clothes. Am I the only one? He even made Popeye seem like kind of a dick. Kelley knows how to write for this type of player.

As an actor, a clown that scares kids, and someone who has worked at the highest levels of Madison Ave for 20 years, I look forward to auditioning.

V Newman • on Aug 30, 2012 4:30 pm

If this goes all the way, it will be a testament to the persistence and patience of all involved, in particular Mark Teitelbaum, who pushed this project every day for several years against wave after wave of resistance. Congrats and well done.

new • on Aug 30, 2012 4:30 pm

no. just no. i’d like to see fresh new faces.

joshreader • on Aug 30, 2012 4:30 pm

Difficult to think of any actor who has made worse choices in film over the last 15 years or so than Robin Williams. His name has become synonymous with shlock. He has made too many decisions based on whatever role pays the most, and really screwed up a promising career. I hope this isn’t more follow-the-money inanity. Somehow, though, I’m not too hopeful.

Zachary • on Aug 30, 2012 4:30 pm

I guess someone’s never heard of World’s Greatest Dad.

Miffy • on Aug 30, 2012 4:30 pm

Just do a Mork & Mindy reboot. Pam Dawber is available (and she looks amazing).

finn • on Aug 30, 2012 4:30 pm

The exodus of film stars to TV continues. Are they finally wising up? Figuring out this is the art form of this century?

Arriasmom • on Aug 30, 2012 4:30 pm

Do you really think Robin Williams is hurting financially? Come on! Is it possible he is doing this because the material is good… Maybe even great! “Build it and they will come” has ALWAYS worked in Hollywood!

Actors Like To Work • on Aug 30, 2012 4:30 pm

Why all the snarky comments about Williams’ moving back to TV?

Actors like to work and Kelley writes well.

Why all the harshing?

He could be worth $100m but if he enjoys acting and the movie stuff has simmered, why not do what he loves to do?

People harsh a little too much.

Joseph • on Aug 30, 2012 4:30 pm

David E. Kelley has created and produced several hit series, so there’s a decent chance this one might also be successful and get critical acclaim as well.

ANYTHING Robin Williams is in will succeed!
The man is genius and who care what he has done and how long it has been since he has done it?
How lucky we are to have this man in our midst!
He has given his all to us, over and over again!
Let’s just rejoice in his talent, his comedy, his experience.
If you think you can do it better,
then get in there and try!